I already have an Xbox. Heavy Rain is actually one of the games I'd like to experience. That, Metal Gear 4 and the JRPGs PS3 seems to get more of. I wouldn't pay full price for a PS3 just for those, but for £99 it would be very tempting. I'd probably open it and trade AC:R straight back in as I have it on 360.

I don't know if I'd make the same original decision now. I suppose it is a good thing that 90+% of the big releases get released on all formats. And Mass Effect, I think, is now available on PS3. (I really, really, REALLY like Mass Effect)

After being a Cod fanboy for many years I just got completely fed up of MW3 and decided to try out the Battlefield franchise. I have to say it's twice the game MW is and much more fun to play. I find myself actually trying to help my team mates out of sticky situations rather than running away to preserve my kill streak and K/D. Any one else find this?

Also, has anybody played the new SSX game? Was a big fan of the PS2 games and am considering getting the new game!

I thought there was a club for on Forza 4 including some of the forum members, can anyone direct me to it, I would love to join an have some others to use different cars, play against and just compare to

Since it is the gaming thread and not just the driving gaming thread, has anybody else picked up Mass Effect 3 over the last few days?

I got it on release last Friday and it's absolutely fantastic; great story with epic scale and a great balance of action and RPG elements. For those who played the preceding two games I'm pleased to say that some of the RPG elements missing from the second have returned. Weapon customisation is back, the skills tree has more complexity to it and the general scale has returned, for example the Citadel is back to being multiple areas instead of just a shopping area and the embassies.

Bioware have really outdone themselves with this final installment to the trilogy, well recommended

Since it is the gaming thread and not just the driving gaming thread, has anybody else picked up Mass Effect 3 over the last few days?

I got it on release last Friday and it's absolutely fantastic; great story with epic scale and a great balance of action and RPG elements. For those who played the preceding two games I'm pleased to say that some of the RPG elements missing from the second have returned. Weapon customisation is back, the skills tree has more complexity to it and the general scale has returned, for example the Citadel is back to being multiple areas instead of just a shopping area and the embassies.

Bioware have really outdone themselves with this final installment to the trilogy, well recommended

This does (pleasantly) surprise me because I downloaded the demo and I thought I was playing Gears of War.

This does (pleasantly) surprise me because I downloaded the demo and I thought I was playing Gears of War.

The game actually had me worried for the first couple of hours as it was all cutscenes and fights on rails with very few conversations or decisions.However, once you get through this setup faze it settles back into more of the familiar Mass Effect dynamic and allows you to choose how you want to proceed and at what pace.

The combat system probably has become a bit more like Gears of War but I think this has allowed improvements, for example in the first two games you could pretty much sit behind one piece of cover and occasionally pop-up and take down all enemies from a distance. Now however the AI actively tries to flank you and the combat can get pretty hectic!

This does (pleasantly) surprise me because I downloaded the demo and I thought I was playing Gears of War.

The game actually had me worried for the first couple of hours as it was all cutscenes and fights on rails with very few conversations or decisions.However, once you get through this setup faze it settles back into more of the familiar Mass Effect dynamic and allows you to choose how you want to proceed and at what pace.

The combat system probably has become a bit more like Gears of War but I think this has allowed improvements, for example in the first two games you could pretty much sit behind one piece of cover and occasionally pop-up and take down all enemies from a distance. Now however the AI actively tries to flank you and the combat can get pretty hectic!

Don't get me wrong, having a combat system as refined as Gears of War isn't a bad thing as the game does it very well. However Gears as a series was essentially "survive this battle and you get rewarded with a spectacular cutscene and save point" - while it was fine for Gears (which is essentially to gaming what a big budget blockbuster popcorn movie is to the film industry) it's not what I play Mass Effect for.

Having a more refined combat system is great, and improves the experience, but ultimately I would rather have more clunky combat if I have more variety in the interaction with the story. While ME2 could claim to have 3 different endings - none of the endings were really a result of any decision you made (rather, they were a reflection of how well you had played the game - either everyone lived, everyone died, or some people died - and the ultimate shape of the story was the same) - the decisions in ME1 had a huge impact in what happened and had a big impact on the shape of things to come.

My other annoyance with ME2 was the fact they dropped the vehicle sections. While the vehicle sections were badly implemented from a mechanics point of view in ME1, at least you felt like you were exploring a massive galaxy. In ME2, the planets may as well have been stops on the Circle Line. How has this been handled in ME3

This does (pleasantly) surprise me because I downloaded the demo and I thought I was playing Gears of War.

The game actually had me worried for the first couple of hours as it was all cutscenes and fights on rails with very few conversations or decisions.However, once you get through this setup faze it settles back into more of the familiar Mass Effect dynamic and allows you to choose how you want to proceed and at what pace.

The combat system probably has become a bit more like Gears of War but I think this has allowed improvements, for example in the first two games you could pretty much sit behind one piece of cover and occasionally pop-up and take down all enemies from a distance. Now however the AI actively tries to flank you and the combat can get pretty hectic!

Don't get me wrong, having a combat system as refined as Gears of War isn't a bad thing as the game does it very well. However Gears as a series was essentially "survive this battle and you get rewarded with a spectacular cutscene and save point" - while it was fine for Gears (which is essentially to gaming what a big budget blockbuster popcorn movie is to the film industry) it's not what I play Mass Effect for.

Having a more refined combat system is great, and improves the experience, but ultimately I would rather have more clunky combat if I have more variety in the interaction with the story. While ME2 could claim to have 3 different endings - none of the endings were really a result of any decision you made (rather, they were a reflection of how well you had played the game - either everyone lived, everyone died, or some people died - and the ultimate shape of the story was the same) - the decisions in ME1 had a huge impact in what happened and had a big impact on the shape of things to come.

My other annoyance with ME2 was the fact they dropped the vehicle sections. While the vehicle sections were badly implemented from a mechanics point of view in ME1, at least you felt like you were exploring a massive galaxy. In ME2, the planets may as well have been stops on the Circle Line. How has this been handled in ME3

Unfortunately they've done away with vehicles full-stop in ME3, they've not even kept the Hammerhead from ME2, thankfully though they've also done away with planet scanning, there's very little resource collection involved. In a way they've scaled down the explorable level of the galaxy in that you can search for things by entering a system and running a system scan, the risk with that though is that it alerts the reapers to your presence so you have to be quick.

In terms of your reservations with decisions versus endgame, I've yet to get there but if it's going the way I think it is this one is giving more political/moral quandries, i.e. you may save the galaxy from the reapers but in doing so start another galactic intra-species war.

I think there will be complaints over things gained or lost since the first or second game but it does still feel like the Mass Effect galaxy thankfully (it felt comfortable to be back in the galaxy ) but has a noticably darker edge which I think fits with the 'struggle to survive against the reapers' theme.

Overrall I'm really enjoying it so far and they certainly haven't ruined the trilogy with the last game, whether it is the best game of the three is probably debatable; yes the gameplay has evolved and shifted through the trilogy but as I say it's still a comfortable place to be for those of us who've followed Sheppard this far.

I adore Mass Effect 3. It is an absolute gem. I'm playing on Insanity, so my progress tends to be slow. I love the war assets and how a decision you make can help or hinder. For instance, giving some refugees medical equipment may seem good, but now soldiers won't have such good supplies and it hinders the war. It's quite refreshing for things to be much more grey and grey morality than black and white. In the previous games it was a good option and a bad option. In this it can be those, or it can be a good for the people, bad for the war or vice versa (that may be quite badly phrased).

The combat is similar to ME2, which was basically Gears of War. Trouble is, the combat in Mass Effect was never why people liked it. It was a small part that was actually pretty clunky. Changing it to GoW was a good move, however they combined this with severe restrictions on the RPG side of things. And that, for me anyway, was the straw that broke the camels back. ME3 speeds the combat up, introduces excellent new gameplay features (such as weight affecting power recharge speed), bringing back customisation to an extent. *Please note, I've yet to play through a ME game as anything but a Soldier class, so this may be shaded by that*

Anyway, game has done a great job of keeping the story on the boil throughout. Early on things heated up. They feel just as hot now. Don't know if I'm half way or 99% of the way but I'm enjoying the ride.

The new multiplayer aspect is quite interesting. I've actually only played it alone, and it is hard as nails to do alone. It kicks my donkey every time. (Probably tried 8-10 matches).

Edit: Xbox Live profile just got wiped for some reason... Lost all my history of 360 gaming... Gutted.Edit 2: Widespread issue and MS claim they will fix it. Everyone appears to have reverted to having 0 played games. Weird.

I adore Mass Effect 3. It is an absolute gem. I'm playing on Insanity, so my progress tends to be slow. I love the war assets and how a decision you make can help or hinder. For instance, giving some refugees medical equipment may seem good, but now soldiers won't have such good supplies and it hinders the war. It's quite refreshing for things to be much more grey and grey morality than black and white. In the previous games it was a good option and a bad option. In this it can be those, or it can be a good for the people, bad for the war or vice versa (that may be quite badly phrased).

The combat is similar to ME2, which was basically Gears of War. Trouble is, the combat in Mass Effect was never why people liked it. It was a small part that was actually pretty clunky. Changing it to GoW was a good move, however they combined this with severe restrictions on the RPG side of things. And that, for me anyway, was the straw that broke the camels back. ME3 speeds the combat up, introduces excellent new gameplay features (such as weight affecting power recharge speed), bringing back customisation to an extent. *Please note, I've yet to play through a ME game as anything but a Soldier class, so this may be shaded by that*

Anyway, game has done a great job of keeping the story on the boil throughout. Early on things heated up. They feel just as hot now. Don't know if I'm half way or 99% of the way but I'm enjoying the ride.

I think you are misunderstanding my criticism of the demo being just like Gears of War. I have no problem with the combat mechanics being similar to Gears of War, in fact, I would encourage that. Gears of War has an excellent combat system which is very slick and works very effectively. However, the difference between Gears of War and Mass Effect is that for Gears of War, the combat system is the core mechanic - it is the whole reason you play the game. The combat system is not a core mechanic in Mass Effect, the driving force in Mass Effect is the story and the part you play in shaping that story.

With Mass Effect 2 they introduced a much slicker combat mechanic, but they also made the progression of the game much more like Gears of War too. It was combat, cut scene, combat, cut scene. Yes, you had choices to be made, but these choices felt more like forks in the road that ultimately led to the same destination, just from a different angle and they usually happened at very obvious moments, or during separate, clearly demarcated "dialogue scenes" of the game.

Taking an example from Mass Effect 1, and I am going to spoiler this for those who haven't played it because it was a huge part of the game...

Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2 spoilers (click to show)

Take the part of the game where you have to chose between Kaiden and Ashley - now, even if you knew this point in the game was coming, the game makes you first make the choice of who you send on the kamikazee mission. Once you've planted the bomb you go in to assist the one you sent on that mission only for the other to come under attack half way on your journey towards saving the first one. Having fought halfway there you have to make the decision of backtracking to save the one guarding the bomb (at the expense of the one on the suicide mission) or continuing to save the one on the suicide mission while the other dies with the bomb.

Not only did Mass Effect 2 not have any decisions like this, and I will explore this a little bit further in a bit, what made this decision so heightened was the fact it happened in the middle of the combat. The combat sections it was sandwiched in were two of the most difficult combat sections of the game. If you made the decision to go back for the one with the bomb, it essentially made all that effort in fighting your way half way count for nothing. It's a rare example of where backtracking through a level you've already done was actually done to enhance the gaming experience rather than just having to cut down on the amount of level designing done by the developers.

Now, if we compare this to the decisions made in Mass Effect 2; now, the decision that sticks in my mind the most is the one where you have to make the decision between reprogramming the renegade Geth or destroying them. Now, while the question was certainly big from a philosophical point of view, it was ultimately just part of "the Legion chapter" and not only that - the game makers had marked one as Paragon and one as Renegade, when in fact neither answer to the question was morally desirable.

Not only this, the squad member deaths in Mass Effect 1 had much more meaning - if Wrex's life or death served to highlight how important the Krogan element of the story arc was, and I have already covered the choice between Kaiden and Ashley.

In Mass Effect 2, all of your squad members could die. Now, while this is actually something I fundamentally encourage in the development of videogames as a medium, the way it was handled in Mass Effect 2 is the opposite of the direction I would like it to go. In Mass Effect 2, their deaths had no impact on the game (and by the game I mean Mass Effect 2, I am sure they will have some impact on the sequel, but that's not the game they died in) Ultimately, the number of crew members who died was a reflection of how well you had played the game - it was essentially a percentage score on how well you had done. Yes, depending on whose loyalty missions you had done and how you had handled the inter crew conflict had some bearing on who lives and died, but their deaths where a measure of that, rather than having any impact on the game itself, which essentially rendered them meaningless.

They also only happened in the end of the game, in the last mission. All at once. Now while it could be argued that that highlighted how dangerous the last mission was compared to the challenges in the rest of the game I don't see that has a justification. If anything, I would say it undermines the rest of the game.

My biggest issue with the Mass Effect 3 demo was that it continued the Mass Effect 2 path towards emulating Gears of War. That's not in that it copied the combat mechanics, but rather that it just copied the engagement of rewarding each period of combat with a cut scene. The decision making just seemed to be simple dialogue options of being nice or being a dick and the progression was entirely linear. Now, linear isn't bad in Gears of War, because the core engagement of the game is the intensity of the combat to get to the goal. Mass Effect is all about shaping the universe so when the core engagement of the game is reduced to just going from check point to check point to check point, then it becomes a problem.

Now, thankfully, it sounds like Mass Effect 3 has returned to this. However the demo they released was essentially playing Gears of War with Mass Effect characters, and that would be a bad thing, not because Gears of War combat doesn't belong in Mass Effect but because it means the core engagement of the Mass Effect 3 series was missing.

My comparison of ME2 and 3's gameplay to Gears wasn't in response to anything you said. I've been giving that chat for years, but recently updated to include ME3. I welcome the improvement to the shooter mechanics (as I said I play the game pure soldier so this is an important point for me) but disliked stripping so much of the customisation away.

Anyway, just finished ME3 about an hour ago (gonna regret not sleeping in a couple of hours). I really enjoyed it and thought the ending was okay despite the furore about it that seems to be brewing online.

Really regretting the choice to stay up until 6am playing Mass Effect. Had to get up at 7 and I'm not so young and fit that I can pull that off these days. I used to get home at 4 or 5 then go out to work at 6 and be fine. A red bull would see me through. These days, I need my beauty sleep.

Anyway, the ME3 ending controversy, if I can call it such a thing, seems to be major gaming news. The site I use for news (as well as achievments and the like - x360a) has had 2 stories about it and Bioware's forum has pretty much exploded. All I'll really say about it is this - I liked it. I liked it a lot. My interpretation is shared by a good few other folk, though still a minority, and I think it is a brilliant ending. Almost perfect, if not for one flaw.

My view on the end of Mass Effect 3. Very much an massive spoiler.

Spoiler (click to show)

My take on it is that everything after the laser knocks you out is inside Shep's head. That's why destroying the reapers, which is a renegade "bad" action is actually not bad. It's the reapers screwing with you. This also defeats the reapers (perhaps only in terms of their indoctrination failing) which is why you see Shep, in what appears to be London under rubble. He wakes up. If you take any other action, the reapers are allowed to win and you live in lala land. People who may have been with you in London escape on the Normandy. As far as this goes, a downer ending is great. It feels like Shep wins his battle in his mind (note that the story is a lot about who Shep is and how he is mentally strong) but his body doesn't have it in him to defeat a force such as the Reapers.

Good man for spoilerising (not even a word but hey ho!) I haven't got there yet, will probably finish over the coming weekend. Still, glad that you didn't hate it as that was my biggest fear with this concluding part, that they would ruin it right at the end.

Anyway, the ME3 ending controversy, if I can call it such a thing, seems to be major gaming news. The site I use for news (as well as achievments and the like - x360a) has had 2 stories about it and Bioware's forum has pretty much exploded. All I'll really say about it is this - I liked it. I liked it a lot. My interpretation is shared by a good few other folk, though still a minority, and I think it is a brilliant ending. Almost perfect, if not for one flaw.

Now you have me intrigued and I want to experience it but I don't even own it and still have a 100 hours of Skyrim left to do (I'm 100 hours in.. .so that's about half way, right?

I originally intended to do a massive ME1>ME2>ME3 session when I did get ME3 but now I think I'll just have to bite the bullet and jump straight in.

Also, amazed that I managed to delete the text of your spoiler from the quote without reading it! Forget it would be there uncensored when I clicked the "quote" button...

Anyway, the ME3 ending controversy, if I can call it such a thing, seems to be major gaming news. The site I use for news (as well as achievments and the like - x360a) has had 2 stories about it and Bioware's forum has pretty much exploded. All I'll really say about it is this - I liked it. I liked it a lot. My interpretation is shared by a good few other folk, though still a minority, and I think it is a brilliant ending. Almost perfect, if not for one flaw.

Now you have me intrigued and I want to experience it but I don't even own it and still have a 100 hours of Skyrim left to do (I'm 100 hours in.. .so that's about half way, right?

I originally intended to do a massive ME1>ME2>ME3 session when I did get ME3 but now I think I'll just have to bite the bullet and jump straight in.

Also, amazed that I managed to delete the text of your spoiler from the quote without reading it! Forget it would be there uncensored when I clicked the "quote" button...

My Skyrim save, which was basically everything needed for all the achievements on xbox 360 and a little general messing about and forging of super armour, was 125 hours. Great game. I look forward to some DLC expansion packs for it. I'm still waiting on Fallout: New Vegas releasing a GotY edition style pack with all the DLC. Speaking of GotY style ultimate editions, I'm still holding out for the Forza 4 ultimat edition. I really liked F3 and the F4 demo was great but the extra car packs seem very over priced, but I want them. So a compromise must be struck. Wow, I really got sidetracked there...

And btw, I wouldn't post the ending without spoiler tags. If someone had done that to me, I'd have been well and truly tiddled off. So I wouldn't do that. I'm still waiting (it's been a whole 14 and a half hours since I finished it!!!) on my best pal finishing it so I can discuss with a real live person. Great game. It's almost sad to finish it as it's been a part of my life since 2008 (when I picked up Mass Effect and Too Human and had to guess which one would be good knowing nothing about either...). I've been excited about this game for years basically. To ruin it for someone, would be like breaking a religious sacrament. Plus, you'd all call me a dick. And, while fairly accurate, I don't wanna be called that on a fine day like today. I, as an appreciator of videogames, would never intentionally crap on someone elses experience.

Btw, the online portion of ME3 is actually pretty good fun. It, to continue with a Gearsy theme, is basically Horde mode. Every few rounds you get a special objective. Hack a terminal, kill high priority targets, turn on 4 bomb detonators. Spices it up. The 10 round progress nicely before you have to hold out 2 minutes to await extraction. It feeds in the single player nicely too. Basically, in the main game Shep will literate a high value target. Then a N7 marine squad is sent to hold the location from

Spoiler (click to show)

Cerberus / Geth / Reaper

attack. If you hold it in the multiplayer, you effectively need less resources in the main game to hold it so more of the fleet is ready for the actual war. I quite like the integration. When a character hits max level in the multiplayer you can import them to the main game and they are a permanent asset to your war effort. Pretty damn cool imo.

I've just ordered Red Dead Redemption GOTY Edition from ShopTo for £22.75 as i missed out first time around! Is it a good game? Reviews sing praise after praise so i didn't hesitate (plus i harbour a love of cowboys from being a little boy playing cowboys and indians)! Anybody have any input on this game? Thankyou muchly in advance

_________________"Go forth a conqueror and win great victories"-Virgil.

I've just ordered Red Dead Redemption GOTY Edition from ShopTo for £22.75 as i missed out first time around! Is it a good game? Reviews sing praise after praise so i didn't hesitate (plus i harbour a love of cowboys from being a little boy playing cowboys and indians)! Anybody have any input on this game? Thankyou muchly in advance

Its very good, i must say!

you get to gallop around on a horse!!!!! and lasso things (the thing with the rope and catching stuff!)

I've just ordered Red Dead Redemption GOTY Edition from ShopTo for £22.75 as i missed out first time around! Is it a good game? Reviews sing praise after praise so i didn't hesitate (plus i harbour a love of cowboys from being a little boy playing cowboys and indians)! Anybody have any input on this game? Thankyou muchly in advance

Do you like the Grand Theft Auto series? Red Dead Redemption is more or less Grand Theft Horse. I liked it a lot.

And @ Alienturnedhuman. In regard to the first part of your Spoiler on ME1 I hated having to make that decision and I loved that the game forced you in to that and similar smaller decisions like it on the way through the game. It's the rare trick of getting the in game decisions to matter to me as the individual at least for the duration of the game. I also liked the dialogue and decisions in ME1 a lot more than ME2. The media furore over the sex scenes in ME1 made me laugh too. Largely because it's about as pornographic as stuff you can watch on the Disney channel these days.

I've just ordered Red Dead Redemption GOTY Edition from ShopTo for £22.75 as i missed out first time around! Is it a good game? Reviews sing praise after praise so i didn't hesitate (plus i harbour a love of cowboys from being a little boy playing cowboys and indians)! Anybody have any input on this game? Thankyou muchly in advance

Its very good, i must say!

you get to gallop around on a horse!!!!! and lasso things (the thing with the rope and catching stuff!)

its similar to GTA, cept cowboy style

Sounds like my sort of game! Will be here tomorrow... Thanks for the reply!

_________________"Go forth a conqueror and win great victories"-Virgil.

I really don't dig Red Dead Redemption. I bought it as I quite like GTA (though I didn't like Vice City - I like crime for money or power but I really dislike drugs). I rid it really slow moving and quite boring. However, I'm a total minority opinion on that front, everyone else I;ve discussed it with (most of my pals are gamers/geeks or both.) seems to love it. Most think it's better than most of the GTA games.

I've just ordered Red Dead Redemption GOTY Edition from ShopTo for £22.75 as i missed out first time around! Is it a good game? Reviews sing praise after praise so i didn't hesitate (plus i harbour a love of cowboys from being a little boy playing cowboys and indians)! Anybody have any input on this game? Thankyou muchly in advance

Great game!The story it's amazing and if you like cowboys stuff you will be in heaven, Sergio Leone all the way The ending is heartbreaking way better game than any in GTA series for me, love this game. If you can buy a dlc "undead nightmare" and play this after you finish the main story, you will be suprise:)Highly recommended:)

_________________RKS PANYI went outside once the graphics are not that good.Rocket Robert supporter

For those still enjoying the excellent Skyrim, there is a new patch being released very soon with a whole host of new features and fixes. It's a long list so I've put it in a spoiler tag, though it's not storyline spoilers, just long and forum spoiling!

Spoiler (click to show)

New features:

New cinematic kill cameras for projectile weapons and spells New kill moves and animations for melee weapons Smithing skill increases now factor in the created item's value Improved visual transition when going underwater Improved distance LOD transition for snowy landscapes

Bug fixes:

General crash fixes and memory optimizations Fixed issue with Deflect Arrows perk not calculating properly In "A Cornered Rat," the death of certain NPCs no longer blocks progression Fixed issue where Farkas would not give Companion's quests properly Fixed crash when loading saves that rely on data that is no longer being loaded Followers sneak properly when player is sneaking Fixed issue with weapon racks not working properly in Proudspire Manor Arrows and other projectiles that were stuck in objects in the world now clean up properly Fixed issue where "Rescue Mission" was preventing "Taking Care of Business" from starting properly Fixed issue where certain NPCs would fail to become Thieves Guild fences Fixed issue in "Diplomatic Immunity" where killing all the guards in the Thalmor Embassy before starting the quest would break progress In "Hard Answers," picking up the dwarven museum key after completing the quest, no longer restarts the quest Killing Viola before or after "Blood on the Ice" no longer blocks progression Fixed issue where Calixto would fail to die properly in "Blood on the Ice" In "Waking Nightmare" fixed occasional issue where Erandur would stop pathing properly Fixed issue where letters and notes with random encounters would appear blank Fixed rare issue where dialogue and shouts would improperly play Lydia will now offer marriage option after player purchases Breezehome in Whiterun Fixed issue where if player manually mined ore in Cidhna Mine, jail time would not be served Fixed rare issue with skills not increasing properly Fixed issue where the Headsman's Axe did not gain proper buff from Barbarian perk In "A Night to Remember" it is no longer possible to kill Ysolda, Ennis or Senna before starting the quest Fixed issue with the ebony dagger having a weapon speed that was too slow Fixed issue with "The Wolf Queen Awakened" where backing out of a conversation with Styrr too soon would block progress The third level of the Limbsplitter perk now properly improves all battle axes Fixed a rare issue where Sanguine Rose would not work properly In "Tending the Flames" King Olaf's Verse will no longer disappear from explosions

Pretty cool. I thought most of the glitches were gone after 1.4 (remedying the awful 1.3 patch which gace us the backward dragons and elemental protection becoming elemental weakness. Having frost spells super-effective against frost dragons etc. anyway, some of the new stuff is pretty cool sounding. Must say, I ran into hardly any glitches in this game (fell through the floor of a prison - actually helped me get the achievment for escaping without being seen) but some have. I actually managed to avoid glitches at what appears to be a disproprtionatly pleasant level in most games.

Really regretting the choice to stay up until 6am playing Mass Effect. Had to get up at 7 and I'm not so young and fit that I can pull that off these days. I used to get home at 4 or 5 then go out to work at 6 and be fine. A red bull would see me through. These days, I need my beauty sleep.

Anyway, the ME3 ending controversy, if I can call it such a thing, seems to be major gaming news. The site I use for news (as well as achievments and the like - x360a) has had 2 stories about it and Bioware's forum has pretty much exploded. All I'll really say about it is this - I liked it. I liked it a lot. My interpretation is shared by a good few other folk, though still a minority, and I think it is a brilliant ending. Almost perfect, if not for one flaw.

My view on the end of Mass Effect 3. Very much an massive spoiler.

Spoiler (click to show)

My take on it is that everything after the laser knocks you out is inside Shep's head. That's why destroying the reapers, which is a renegade "bad" action is actually not bad. It's the reapers screwing with you. This also defeats the reapers (perhaps only in terms of their indoctrination failing) which is why you see Shep, in what appears to be London under rubble. He wakes up. If you take any other action, the reapers are allowed to win and you live in lala land. People who may have been with you in London escape on the Normandy. As far as this goes, a downer ending is great. It feels like Shep wins his battle in his mind (note that the story is a lot about who Shep is and how he is mentally strong) but his body doesn't have it in him to defeat a force such as the Reapers.

I'm glad you enjoyed the ending because I really didn't.

Spoiler (click to show)

That's the indoctrination theory and to me it's a plausible explanation except for some parts which don't make any sense. If you assume that once you pick the "Destroy" option, you come out of indoctrination, you're basically saying the whole cut-scene with the Mass Relays exploding and all the Reapers being wiped out and the Normandy escaping and crash landing is a dream sequence? And that when Shepard awakes he's in the rubble in London where he was after Harbinger beam-ified him? Which means none of the Reapers are actually dead and thus actually, even though Shepard beat the indoctrination the Reapers will still win in the end?

If it wasn't a dream, then the whole star-child thing doesn't make a great deal of sense, neither does the Normandy escaping the battle (Joker would never run away!), also, I assume when you're laser beamed the companions who are with you get killed, and yet one of mine stepped out of the Normandy at the end (how did they even get there? Joker was supposed to be in orbit!). Also, the Mass Relays exploding would wipe out all life in pretty much every single major solar system, and even if the combined fleets stayed around Earth, they would be stranded from their home systems and eventually die of starvation anyway.

Well, all in all, I wasn't very satisfied...but I'm glad at least some people enjoyed it

My player married Mohl The Lioness - apparently she cannot be killed which could come in handy - however, there is a bloke hanging around her all the time and he comes into my house as well - need to find a way to off him ....

My player married Mohl The Lioness - apparently she cannot be killed which could come in handy - however, there is a bloke hanging around her all the time and he comes into my house as well - need to find a way to off him ....

Replaying Mass Effect through again. 1, 2 and 3. Firstly, to maximise assets for 3 (though I believe my final total in ME3 was close to the highest it can be) but mostly because I wanted to play as a different class and also as FemShep. I kinda want Garrus and her to have a fight. The kind where he has reach, but she has flexibility. If you know what I mean! Romancing Liara first game, because that should properly motivate her to find my body in ME2, which she plays a part in. I feel that given it is going to happen, I should provide some narrative myself and give Liara a reason for it.

Man, just want to say that Mass Effect trilogy is possibly my favourite gaming series. Final Fantasy, Half Life and, dare I say, Mario can all take a step back. Elderscrolls, Forza, Resident Evil, you can all wait outside. Command and Conquer, Age of..., Civilisation need not apply. I've never played a game where I want to do this to fit a story I'm telling myself. The basic storyline is always going to be the same, it's not that wide a finale but the details I decide for myself, and knowing where they go helps me to decide even more what my character would, could and should do at the junctions. I can fine tune the little parts and make it an experience that I want to have. I adore Mass Effect. I really do (I know I've gone on about ME a lot in this topic, but I cannot sing the praises of Bioware and, in my opinion, gamings finest moment.)

I haven't been playing a lot of games recently. Even the Reapers will have to wait a while. I'm contemplating doing a run of Witchers 1 and 2 after I've read the books. They're both rated very highly indeed and that sort of gritty, Slavic fantasy setting is right up my alley.

Anyone a fan of Mount & Blade? I bought it without fully understanding what it is and I love it. I didn't think killing highwaymen would be so much fun, but so far charging at the enemy on my war horse has been exhilarating every single time.

I have to give another vote to Red Dead Redemption. A lot of people went in thinking it would be another GTA and were disappointed. For me it was one of the most powerful gaming experiences ever. Just so many completely jaw-dropping moments in that game, stuff that makes you wish there was a way to reset and play it for the first time again.

Lydia will now offer marriage option after player purchases Breezehome in Whiterun

Noooo... this is pointless... unless they are introducing a divorce or polygamy mechanic.

Ahh I was right. I always belived she should be an NPC you could marry so I've been saving myself just for her. We will wed as soon as i get that patch on my computer.

My Kinda (npc) woman.

Just don't expect her to show any enthusiasm for helping with carrying the shopping in from the car.

I have done over 100 hours with Lydia. I have now switched her with Jordis (this was meant to be temporary, I wanted to kit out Jordis in Dragon armor like I had done with Lydia but once I dismissed Lydia she reverted to her original armor after leaving the building I was in so I lost a set of legendary enchanted dragon armor and an enchanted weapon. Thankfully I had taken everything else back. Anyway, I now have got my hands on enough Daedric hearts to make a set of Daedric armor for Jordis and because I met her when I was at level 30+ she is a lot stronger than Lydia who I only had to so much clip with a sneeze (ok, unrelenting force) and I'd be reverting to the last game save... So I guess I will let Lydia enjoy her retirement in Breezehome.

There is a story on the BBC that there is a campaign demanding a new ending to Mass Effect 3 - can one of the people who have played the game let me know if there are any spoilers in the article (and by spoilers, I mean something that would either definitely reveal the ending, or would be a huge massive hint at what it was)

Skyrim is great, but in all honesty Fallout 3 and Oblivion represent better games. I actually consider Morrowind (GotY edition) to be the best of the bunch.

Have to agree with you there.

I have put Skyrim aside now as it became far too buggy and unplayable on the PS3 but I believe it has been patched so I will go back and try to finish it.Currently I am play KOR-Reckoning and will have it done by the end of the wkend but I have kind of lost interest in it as it really does lack depth. I also have Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age 2 on the go and I'm sure I will buy Mass Effect 3 when its nice and cheap on pre-owned.

Later this year I will cease all contact with the outside world to play Bioshock 3 and Resident Evil 6.

Patch 1.5 for skyrim is due in the next few days afaik. I'm playing it on the 360 but heard it's very laggy on the ps3? It's by far the glitchiest game I've ever played but have thoroughly enjoyed it. I went cold turkey on gaming after a wow addiction and this was ideal way to start enjoying it again. Just unwind, play for an hours fun, then do something more constructive.

There is a story on the BBC that there is a campaign demanding a new ending to Mass Effect 3 - can one of the people who have played the game let me know if there are any spoilers in the article (and by spoilers, I mean something that would either definitely reveal the ending, or would be a huge massive hint at what it was)

Nothing is explicitly said. I haven't got the game nor played it, but I was pretty sure about the ending just from hearing that there were complaints, that article reinforces my suspicions while leaving it short of absolute certainty.

I don't like this. I HATE this. Firstly, I like the ME3 ending, but that is a minor point here. I dislike the concept that the game's true ending isn't in the box. If someone without Xbox Live, a PS3 internet connection or internet on the PC (doubt you can install without it but I'm in hypothetical here) buys Mass Effect 3 then their game's ending is no longer canon. And that is important.

Then worse, consider this, if the "true" ending DLC costs money, then we are actually paying for the end of the game. You realise we would be paying for the end of the game? We would be paying £40 (or £65 in my case, as I got the CE) for a game without an ending, and charged another £5-£10 for the ending. Okay, they'll get away with that for the sake that this ending has caused a lot of trouble, but it's what it represents that troubles me. When Online passes came in, and DLC removed from the game was still a forethought, people actually took the possible meanings and repercussions and hyperboled them into this exact situation. And I do believe it is a slippery slope. While I'd love to take a stand, I will buy this (if it costs, which I realise is only the probably result not the definitive solution).

I already somewhat dislike the fact the From Ashes DLC seems like a part of the game they ripped out. Javik, the character in the DLC, is far too integrated to have been DLC. Especially considering the way Kasumi and Zaeed fit into ME2 (shoddily and somewhat lazily imo). So we have a slippery slope. ME3 can pull it off as it is so highly anticipated, loved (minus the ending) and obsessed over by fans. But where do we go? Bioware (I'd like to shift blame to EA but who knows) have potentially started something that will be very, very damaging to gaming. I fear next we get a core story, and all side missions are DLC. Or we get half a story with an inconclusive ending and stick some DLC out as the true ending just to grab a couple of extra £££/$$$ from us. I love Mass Effect, and like I said, I have no issue with the ending. My issue is with the very concept and where this takes us.

Well this development is already well underway with day 1 DLC, microtransactions, and so on. Most video games aren't works of art anymore, they're services that can be bought piecemeal. Gamers have learnt just how much artistic integrity means for the likes of BioWare and act accordingly. Slippery slope? Some firms are already at the bottom of it, some, like CD Projekt RED with their free DLC, don't know what slope you're talking about. Sure it's sad to see BioWare do it, but I'm not surprised.

I've actually decided to buy the GOTY edition of ME3. That'll show em...